****

***CR Rolls Out New Questionnaire Process***

On April 7, 2003, employee associations received increased visibility on State’s Post Profiles application. Available from the Department’s unclassified OpenNet Plus system (http://www.a.state.gov/postprofiles/), Post Profiles is designed to provide a “snapshot” of the administrative life of a post or region.

The application now enables employee associations to provide questionnaire responses to CR electronically.  That’s right.  No more faxes, emails or snail mail submissions of questionnaire responses.  In fact, we don’t want them!

The new questionnaire has been divided into public and private tables.  CR and your Post Administrator will be able to view and edit both tables.  Other users will have view access to the public table only.  

To obtain editor’s credentials for employee associations, contact your Post Administrator or Post’s Management (Administrative) Officer.  If you cannot identify the Post Administrator for your post, you may contact the Bureau Administrator by locating the “contact us” page in the left navigation section of your Post Profiles welcome page.  For posts in the Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) bureau, contact the Post Management Officer listed on the basic information page for your post.

Guidelines for 2003 have been provided via State 086896 and are available from the CR Intranet site at http://aoprcr.a.state.gov/ and the CR Internet site at http://www.state.gov/m/a/c8225.htm.  

Technical assistance for accessing and navigating the Post Profiles application is available from the Bureau of Administration’s help desk by contacting AEXIRMHELPDESKB244@state.gov.  Keep in mind, the help desk is located in Washington, D.C. and is staffed during regular business hours.  For fastest service, please include your post name and that you are requesting assistance pertaining to employee association Post Profiles.  The current Post Profiles user’s guide for editors is available in Adobe pdf format at HTTP://www.a.state.gov/postprofiles/help/staff%20editors%20user%20guide.pdf.

Content related questions should be directed to the CR Operations Team at foodandfun@state.gov.  The help desk will be unable to respond to your content related questions.  If you are uncertain if your question is technical or content related, please contact CR.

 Initial responses are due May 15, 2003.  We will ask that posts update the information quarterly in order to provide us with accurate and timely information for use in formulating the A/OPR/CR database.

We look forward to hearing from you regarding the new questionnaire process.   Please contact the CR Operations Team with your comments and questions.  

***Employee Association Manager of the Year Award***

In April, Elizabeth Konick and Danny Samaroo of the Bucharest Employees Recreation Association (BERA) in Romania were selected as a team for the 2003 Manager of the Year award (based on their performance during 2002).  The team was cited for its shared commitment to new business opportunities, improving post morale, excellent customer service and cost control measures that moved the BERA into the black for the first time in several years.   During 2003, the team implemented the Third Country Diplomat program and established the Homeward Bound Mail program.  

Congratulations to Lisa Crosier of the American Employees Association (AEA) of Beijing, China and Rose Charles of the U.S. Commissary (USCOM) Association of Dhaka, Bangladesh for second and third places, respectively.

The remaining nominees in alphabetical order by post are:

Tami Azzi – Beirut

Martha Fernandez - Bogota

Karen Grajeda - Guatemala

Martin Axelsen - Kathmandu

Shaun Parker - Kiev

Mary Ann Smith, Yazmin Valdueza, 

& Claudia Wright - Mexico

The annual awards process is announced each January.  Nominations are submitted by Boards of Directors based upon the manager’s performance for the calendar year just prior.  The winners receive framed certificates and a cash award.  Copies of this year’s nominations are available from CR upon request.

Congratulations again to the winners and nominees for making 2002 a great year!

**CR is on the Web!**

Yes, it’s true.  The Office of Commissary and Recreation Affairs has entered the information age... we now have our own Internet site.  The web site is hosted by the Department of State and is located at  http://www.state.gov/m/a/c8225.htm.  The site contains a myriad of resources including instructionals, formats and general information, etc. related to employee associations.  Below is just an overview of the contents of our site.  

***Management Resources*** – A library of accounting forms and instructionals, IRS information and tax assistance, boilerplate documents, management forms, and a list of key association management documents.

***Board of Directors*** – Resources for Boards, including the Board of Directors handbook and internal controls guide.

***News and Notes*** – Current and past editions of our newsletter, *The CRonicle*, in which you’ll find a wealth of information on a variety of topics, including spoilage, generating profit, and financial ratios.

***Regulations and Policy*** – Information relating to association operations as found in collective policy cables and 6 FAM 500 (the “Bible” of employee associations).

***Reporting Requirements*** – Details and due dates on annual reporting requirements.  Just a reminder – the deadline for questionnaire submissions has been extended this year to May 15.

***Special Programs*** – What you need to know about special programs for employee associations including the Third Country Diplomat program, Homeward Bound Mail and the Mini Association program.

***Suppliers*** – Sources of procurement for most anything you can think of!

###### TAXES MADE EASY

###### V2.0

You know, there’s a saying.  You can only count on two things in life: death and taxes.  As USG instrumentalities for Federal tax purposes, employee associations are no exception.  While not subject to tax on its income, the employee association is subject to employer taxes.  These requirements take affect any time a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien performs work for the employee association.  Now, here is the most important thing to know -- it is the employee association’s responsibility to meet **employer**Federal tax  **requirements** -- not the individual performing the work.  

Unfortunately, as too many managers have discovered, withholding and reporting taxes can be a daunting process.  And, in fact, we understand this is just one of the many tasks employee associations must tackle in running a small business.  

Over the years, we have worked to become more proactive in assisting employee associations with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements and resolving reporting discrepancies.  The Operations Team has resolved a record number of discrepancies this past year alone that resulted in a savings of hundreds of dollars for employee associations.

In addition to individual tax assistance, we offer tools to assist in the process.  First, our IRS instructional -- available both in word or cable format – outlines the process in great detail and includes the required forms and dates for filing.  

Since 1997, we have been offering tax workshops at our training conferences.  These one-hour workshops provide hands-on training to managers and accountants in meeting employee association tax requirements.  We will continue to offer these upon demand at upcoming training events.    

Last fall, we developed a tax program.   *Taxes Made Easy* will not only assist the user in the calculation of taxes, but also provides mock tax forms to illustrate how the forms should be completed.  The user will simply input monthly payroll (by employee) into the spreadsheet and the program will calculate the taxes to be withheld from the employee’s wages and transfer that data onto the  mock forms.  

It’s a breeze!  The program is available at no cost to the employee association and comes with technical assistance provided by the CR Operations Team**.  The current version is *Taxes Made Easy v2.0*.****Please ensure that you are using the current version as the program was updated in April 2003.**

You may obtain a copy of our instructional or tax program from the CR Intranet site (http://aoprcr.a.state.gov/), the recently launched CR Internet site  (http://www.state.gov/m/a/c8225.htm), or by contacting us at foodandfun@state.gov

And remember, technical assistance is just an email away.  The Operations Team is available to review your most intricate tax issue (pertaining to the employee association, of course!). 

## This Just In... 

## CR Announces a New, Improved

## Employee Association Directory of Suppliers

The Office of Commissary and Recreation Affairs proudly presents the next generation of its Supplier List.

Brand new for 2003, the “Employee Association Directory of Suppliers” does not just look different – it’s a whole new animal from cover to cover.  Pull up a chair in front of your desktop (or a laptop for those desiring a more sporty driving position) and take one for a test drive.

The new Directory can be found at either of our two easy to reach locations: the Department’s unclassified Intranet at http://aoprcr.a.state.gov/, or our just recently launched Internet site, http://www.state.gov/m/a/c8225.htm.

Admire the bright, patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme on the cover.  You know from the start this is no ordinary publication.  Scroll down and just take a look at the list of features – all STANDARD:

· Suppliers by Category – comfortably familiar, but oh so 21st century.  The names are actually hyperlinked to each company’s website for easy viewing.  You’ll be able to see virtually and touch what you are buying, so to speak.  

· New suppliers never before seen in the pages of the Supplier List and just clamoring to do business with employee associations.  Everything from accounting software to Zip-lock® bags.

· An easy, interactive, alphabetical index designed with you, the user, in mind.

·   All the contact information you could ever hope for right at your fingertips.  Just click and e-mail/surf to your heart’s content.

· Regular, automatic online updates.

· Comprehensive listings of accounting and point of sale (POS) software and hardware providers.

· Oodles of logo/promotional suppliers.

· Equipment and supplies for restaurant and hotel operations.

· Cleaning and janitorial supplies.

· Recreational equipment.

· Groceries, wine, liquor and soda.

· Digital, print-on-demand newspapers.

· You can even order COLD-EEZE® direct from the manufacturer.

The new Directory is faster, brighter, more powerful and easier to use than ever!  Do not hesitate – be the first at your post to possess your very own copy. 

Download one for a test drive today.  You won’t be sorry.

(Don’t worry, supplies are not limited. We have plenty more where this came from.)

If you know of a supplier that should be on the list, please have the individual contact the CR Operations Team at foodandfun@state.gov for consideration.

*In the next issue of the CRonicle*, we will serve up a feature article on post assignments in CR.  Yes, all employee associations have now been assigned two primary points of contact within CR  -  that is, one for accounting issues and one for operational/management issues.  We’ll explain next quarter.  Until then, that’s all folks! 

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